Do you know the best exercise for your brain? Actual exercise. Running increases neurogenesis[1] more than anything else.<p>[1]: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/04/well/move/for-your-brains-sake-keep-moving.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/04/well/move/for-your-brains...</a>
When the first studies by Jaeggie on IQ came out a few years ago I hit dual n back pretty hard trying to improve my IQ. I don't think I got any smarter, but I did notice a few things.<p>Pros<p>My attention got better, I was less easily distracted.<p>My executive function was better, I made better choices in life.(less junk food, fewer beers)<p>My thoughts slipped less often, I had those "what was I just talking about" moments less and less frequently.<p>Cons<p>Sometimes I felt overly focused for social situations. Like the feeling you get when you've been studying for 4 hours, and then try to the shoot the shit with someone, and you end up being too rigid/serious and instead of playful/fun.
paging gwern!<p>* for context, he's got a lot on his site about n-back:<p><a href="https://www.gwern.net/DNB-FAQ" rel="nofollow">https://www.gwern.net/DNB-FAQ</a><p><a href="https://www.gwern.net/DNB-meta-analysis" rel="nofollow">https://www.gwern.net/DNB-meta-analysis</a>
This is interesting, and kind of odd.<p>The article claims the failure of previous brain-training studies came from choosing the wrong techniques, but the evidence on dual n-back specifically has been conflicted for quite a while; this isn't the first study on it.<p>What's interesting here is that a lot of the best results on dual n-back in the past have concluded that it's mostly promising to fight cognitive decline or boost recovery. Previous work on boosting memory in young, mentally-healthy people has come up with basically nothing.<p>I'm hoping that this is the better and more-powerful study, and that n-back does boost general working memory. But the cynic in me is wondering if the chosen working-memory metric was simply more vulnerable to training effects from n-back than from complex span.<p><a href="https://www.gwern.net/DNB-meta-analysis" rel="nofollow">https://www.gwern.net/DNB-meta-analysis</a>
This is actually a really common improv warm up. The group that's about to perform circles up, and one person says a word to someone else in the circle. That second person then passes the word to someone else, and so on. Eventually, after around 50 words, someone spontaneously passes what was said to them back and you start trying to go back down. The benefits are many, everyone practices focusing, listening and trusting their teammates. It can also be funny, as near the bottom opinions on what the true order is can vary quite a bit.
I don't know where the articles source is but this linked study says there are no improved affects with with dual n back training.<p><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4820261/" rel="nofollow">https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4820261/</a><p>This meta analysis says there's a small affect<p><a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.3758/s13423-014-0699-x" rel="nofollow">https://link.springer.com/article/10.3758/s13423-014-0699-x</a>
When I see these exercises, I think it would be more fun to just play the drums to boost my brain. Here's an article collating studies on rhythm playing and brain effects:<p><a href="https://www.google.com.pe/amp/s/m.mic.com/articles/amp/89363/science-shows-how-drummers-brains-are-actually-different-from-everybody-elses" rel="nofollow">https://www.google.com.pe/amp/s/m.mic.com/articles/amp/89363...</a><p>(i do play drums, synth, and guitar.)
Anyone have tricks to boost their memory?<p>Lately, I've felt my memory has been a little off. I feel like I'm not remembering things I would normally easily remember.<p>Like the other day, I was trying to remember what they speak in Iran (Farsi) or who the head coach of the Boston Celtics or what was the name of the Scorsese movie with Wahlberg/Damon/Nicholson. These are all subjects I'm very familiar with so it bothered me that I couldn't remember the answers immediately.
I'll make a shameless plug for my side project, IQ boost. The first Dual N-Back iPhone app. I launched it about 2 weeks after the app store opened.<p><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/iq-boost/id286574399?mt=8" rel="nofollow">https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/iq-boost/id286574399?mt=8</a>
I may have missed seeing a mention of the work done by Dr. Michael Merzenich[1], professor emeritus at UCSF and an expert on neuroplasticity, who has been showing for many years that mental (and physical) exercises can and do remap parts of the brain to our benefit.<p>His 2004 TED Talk[2] on neuroplasticity is IMHO well worth watching.<p>[1]: <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Merzenich" rel="nofollow">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Merzenich</a><p>[2]: <a href="https://www.ted.com/talks/michael_merzenich_on_the_elastic_brain?language=en" rel="nofollow">https://www.ted.com/talks/michael_merzenich_on_the_elastic_b...</a>
The training exercise is Dual N-Back <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N-back#Dual_n-back" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N-back#Dual_n-back</a>
I think that the changes of n-back comes with a 30 day training 20 - 30 minutes a day. I create a Melody position n-back Link: <a href="http://competicionmental.appspot.com/router?page=melodynback3" rel="nofollow">http://competicionmental.appspot.com/router?page=melodynback...</a>
Did subjects improve their dual-n-back scores significantly during the exercise regiment? Did they improve on other memory tests? Did they improve in learning tasks?<p>I get that they got increased brain activity in areas associated with learning and memory, but I'd like to see subjects also improve when directly tested.